


Number 29

by Kon_El_of_Kandor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, Keiths a quaterback, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Mentions of Anxiety, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shiros a running back, Social Anxiety, football au, football terminology, theyre gay dude, this is about football I sWEAR
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-08-03 22:08:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16334126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kon_El_of_Kandor/pseuds/Kon_El_of_Kandor
Summary: Keith's gotten a full ride to Garrison University as their quarterback. Knowing his freshman year will make or break his time at the Garrison, he tries to make an impact on the team.Little does he know that Number 29 is the one making the biggest impact on him. Literally.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Football terms used in this fic, for those who don't really know the game. 
> 
> Quarterback- A quarterback’s job is to direct his team toward the end zone and score as many points as possible. Hands the ball to running back, if the play calls for it. Otherwise will run with the ball or throw it to other players.
> 
> Center-The center is also the player who passes the ball between his legs to the quarterback at the start of each play.
> 
> Running back- The running back receives handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, catches passes from out of the backfield, and blocks.
> 
> End zone- Where touchdowns are scored, or the end of the field.

Keith couldn't help but feel proud as he stepped onto the field, the blue training jersey worn on top of his shoulder pads giving him a sense of determination.

Though he had gotten the scholarship to play for Garrison University during his senior year of high school he couldn’t still believe that one of the top football schools had chosen him. As their quarterback no less. 

Part of him had reasoned that this was probably due to their latest quarterback, Sven, had been chosen to play professional straight out of his junior year. Thus here Keith was, fresh meat and already (probably) guaranteed to be a starter. 

Grabbing his helmet he jogged toward where Coach Juarez was standing with the rest of the offensive line. Nervousness coursed through his body as it did at the beginning of every practice.

_ Calm down, you’re in the big leagues now. No need to stress when you’ve already shown your potential.  _

 

“Alright, gather round. You all might have seen a new face on the field. I’d like to introduce the newest Paladin on the team, and the newest quarterback Keith. “ Coach said while Keith raised his hand at his mention. His fellow teammates cheered his welcome, probably hearing the rumors about his supposed talent. 

“Let's give Keith a big Garrison welcome by beating his ass in practice today.” Even more cheers for that one. All the while Keith groaned but smiled, somehow feeling welcome at the thought of his team mates giving it their all. 

“First things first, let's get a few laps in and throw some handoffs.” Coach yelled and finished by blowing his whistle harshly. 

By the time they had run roughly 5 times up and down the length of the field coach blew the whistle to get in the standard formation. Barley having time to catch his breath he ran behind his center and called the play. 

Rushing backward he quickly turns and sees his running back headed straight toward him. This is where things get a little hazy for Keith.

He’d later go back and blame it on not having enough air but he does remember being harshly thrown by his running back on the ground. 

Not standard procedure if you ask him. Lying on the floor of the field panting as if he’d run a marathon, Keith manages to tear his helmet off of his head. Out of the many faces that came into his peripheral, Keith only really saw one. Him. 

 

“Sorry man. When I tried grabbing the ball from you, you didn't move.” His running back said to him while a smile that has Keith breathless. Time slowed as he stretched his hand out to help Keith up. The dark gray of his eyes gleaming in the sunlight, his smile ever so slightly present mesmerizes Keith. 

Keith takes a little too long to acknowledge the hand sticking out toward him and finally grabs onto it. It’s as if sparks fly between them, and Keith knows he’s hopeless against this man’s everything. 

 

“Its fine, I suppose it just nervousness.” He replies to him. Knowing they’re short on time before coach calls them back to the formation. Keith takes note of his jersey number, 29, as if he could ever forget his face. 

Quickly putting on his helmet, Keith runs back to the center and yells out the same play. Grabbing the ball as its snapped to him he rushes backward and hold it out this time, just in time for 29 to grab it and rush toward the defensive line. 

Keith doesn't know if its just because its practice but he’s amazed by how easily 29 runs in between the defense. He’s no small man either, he looks as if he belongs in football. Unlike Keith who amazes people when he says he plays. 29 is only brought down twenty yards before the end zone. 

Keith is both blown away by 29 and incredibly amazed, Keith doesn't really know if that is one in the same but to him 29 makes him believe they’re two wildly different ideas. 

 

It’s a brutal two and a half hours later that coach calls practice to an end. Congratulating them on finishing one of the easier practices of the year, which earns him groans from the team. 

Despite this Keith only sees smiles on his teammates faces, and finds himself smiling too. 

With his helmet in his hand he walks into the locker room, ready to get his sweaty jersey and tights off for a cold shower when he hears someone call him from behind. 

 

“Hey! Keith!” Turning around Keith is a bit stunned to see 29 jogging up to him. Noticing that the white streak is no longer plastered to his head, most likely sticking up from a combination of helmet hair and sweat. 

 

“Hey.” He replies.  _ Hey?! Really?  _ He mentally scolds himself at the awkwardness of his reply. Turning around completely to face 29.

 

“What’s up?” He adds trying and hopefully not failing to appear laid back as he crosses his arms. A little clunky with his helmet still in his grip.

29 smiles and Keith wonders if it is even possible for him appear so ridiculously hot even after sweating as much as everyone else.  Meanwhile Keith and the rest of the team looked like they just finished rolling around in sweat. 

 

“I never introduced myself, as your running back I supposed I gotta have your back, eh?” 29 jabs at him while smiling at his stupid pun. 

Groaning at the pun Keith smiles and holds his hand out. 

“Keith, Keith Kogane.” He smiles at 29, and 29 easily gives it back to him. 

 

“Takashi Shirogane. I go by Shiro though.” He says easily taking Keith's outstretched hand. Keith’s smile, if even possible, grew bigger at this and he laughed easily. 

 

“Nice to know you have my back Shiro.” Keith rubs the back of his neck absentmindedly. Knowing full well that this could probably end the conversation right here and now yet still wanting to talk to Shiro.

“Part of my job right? Anyway I was wondering if you were busy after practice?” Shiro smiles sheepishly as he glances down from Keith’s face. 

Knowing full well that this was probably the only time fate would ever be kind to Keith, he smiles for the upteenth time in a few minutes. 

 

“I'm not, was just going to nap really.” The smile on Shiro, if even possible grows entirely larger. 

 

“Did you want to hang out and eat?” 

 

“Yeah, sure.” He replies easily. Clutching his helmet in both of his hands as to try to hide the blush on his face. He hopes that after all the sweating, that his face hasn't dimmed from the redness already there. 

 

“Great, meet me back here in twenty and we can decide what to do!” Shiro’s velvet voice comes out in glee. Running past Keith into the locker room, he turns at the last second. 

 

“Sorry I hit you earlier!” He calls out as he rounds the corner. 

Keith doesn't remember when he ever smiled as much as he did just while watching Shiro stumble over himself as much as Keith did. 

Shaking his head and laughing he follows Shiro into the locker room, once again counting his lucky stars that the Garrison took a chance on him. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are more terms in this chapter that might seem unfamiliar. If it hadnt been obvious before, this is an equal football story as its Sheith...... if that makes sense.
> 
> So main terms used in football. 
> 
> Sack- when a defensive player sacks a quarterback, the offensive team has to start where the quarterback got sacked at. So lets say the line is at 10 yards and the quarterback runs back to throw the ball and he's sacked at the 5 yard line the offense must start at the 5 yard line now since they didn't gain any yards but they did lose some. 
> 
> 1st down- easy way to think about downs is that they have three tries to make it past a certain yard in order to get three more tries. if they run out of tries they kick the ball as far away from their end zone and the other team gets the ball. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hey! Heck of a Rams game am i riiiiight? Hope i have some NFL fans in some of you guys!   
> sorry this is a little late, work has me so busy but i got this finished in under two hours! You can expect the next chapter around Sunday, (Since Red Deads coming out it might be a little later) Anyway! Enjoy

Keith thought fondly of his summer training for the upcoming season. Sure there were hard practices, easy ones and some that made him flatout want to quit and join the couch potato club.

 

Still he persisted, in no small part to his team but most importantly Shiro. He wasn’t sure exactly how to think about his relationship with his closest friend. 

 

While he had, had friends in school,none of them were on par with how close he had become to the running back. 

 

Always giving him smiles on the field, encouraging him to lift his max when they’d weightlift. Rubbing his back as he mercilessly threw up his breakfast after sprinting for an hour as a “warm up.” 

 

He cringed at that last memory but it made him all the more appreciative and a little more lost on his true feelings. 

 

Shrugging his backpack on, Keith stepped out into the hallway of his dorm. Now while he was a freshman he still got some shitty housing, unlike his upperclassmen team mates who got the nice dorms on the other side of the walkway. 

 

A text brought his attention to his phone and he smiled as he saw the message was from Shiro. 

 

**S: Ready for the hell that is college lyfe?**

 

If he was being honest, Keith didn’t understand the way Shiro texted. He’d skip grammar and invent words one day and the next his text would be perfect. 

 

Guess he can’t have others knowing his next move. 

Typing out his reply he headed for the elevators, quietly debating whether it was a wise decision to get some chocolate milk before he had practice in a few hours. 

 

**K: Ready to play my first game, but not so much on the classes :/**

 

On the low, he might have asked Shiro what classes they might be able to take together and was pleasantly surprised that Shiro had some classes on the same level as his. Given they were mainly electives so sue him for taking two electives his freshman year. 

 

Walking into his intro to art history, Keith made a beeline to the back row and slouched into his seat. Glancing at the clock he calculated the time until class was over, despite his arrival not two minutes ago. 

 

“You know staring at the clock isn’t going to make it go faster, right?” Turning he quickly spotted Shiro as he took his bag off his back. 

 

Embarrassed at being caught staring at the clock, Keith looked down and tried to hide the inevitable blush. 

 

“Maybe I was just...thinking about what time it was on the West coast….?” Keith explained. 

 

_ What?  _

  
  
  
  


_ ….Nice going.  _

 

Wincing at his horribly embarrassing reply he resigned his fate as Shiro gave him a weird side eye. 

 

“Well okay?” 

 

Thankfully the professor walked in and gathered everyone’s attention. 

 

Putting his head on his hand, Keith pretended to watch the video on a statue and more importantly looked at Shiro. 

 

This past summer, he couldn’t get over the fact that he had become so close to him. How they’d get breakfast after early practices. 

 

How they’d have movie nights inside of Shiro’s dorm. Well that only happened once but it could happen again!

 

Smiling softly, Keith entertained the idea of hanging out possibly more. It’s not like he didn’t already see Shiro everyday for practice. Keith rarely had the time to speak to him during those practices. 

 

His favorite part of practice? Tossing the ball to his running back, or throwing it to him. Watching him run across and hopefully make a touchdown. 

 

He suddenly startled as he realized their first game was upcoming within the week. Their first match (and his first game as a Paladin) was against the impressive Lions from Altea U. 

 

Their main star was a nasty quarterback by the name of Coran. There was a rumor spread around that their head coach Alfor made them practice four times a day, six days a week. 

 

Keith shuddered at the thought and noticed his palms became a little sweaty. Keith has always had a minor problem controlling his anxiety. Never bad enough to keep him from playing but enough to make him question joining the sport. 

 

Turning his attention back to the movie, he realized he had no idea what the narrator was even speaking of. Which, great first day and he’s already not paying attention. 

 

Clearing his throat his sat up straight and looked forward. This didn’t go unnoticed by Shiro as he raised his eyebrow and grinned at Keith. Who only glared back and kept his attention focused. Only mildly glancing at the clock to check the time...again. 

  
  


* * *

 

Before Keith knew it, it was Friday before the Garrisons first game. If he was being honest, he didn’t know how he felt, sure he was excited to show his school what he had. But at the same time the nervousness had his stomach rolling. 

 

“What’s wrong? You’re looking a little pale there.” Shiro looked at him as finished putting on a simple Garrison football shirt. 

 

Right right practice first panic later. Remembering that coach asked them to not wear their pads to this practice he quickly threw his old shirt off and grabbed his “practice shirt”.

 

“I don’t really know, I’m just nervous but excited? I guess?” He replied, which yeah that probably summed up his emotions pretty well. He had a brief moment of self consciousness before he threw his pants down to put his shorts on but Shiro had seen him before. 

 

_ Yeah but in the shower.  _

 

Slightly stunned at himself, Keith wondered where that thought came from. 

 

“Hey man, don’t even worry! You’re going to do great. You’re a starting quarterback in his freshman year. Do you know how impressive that is? Especially at a school like the Garrison?” Shiro expressed using his usually over the top hand gestures. 

 

Picking his bag up Keith glanced up as his friend. 

 

“Yeah. I guess that makes me feel a little better. Hey did he say what we’re doing today?” Keith asked as he pushed his tiny bag into the locker. 

 

“Huh? Oh yeah we usually watch some old footage and try to fix mistakes, talk trash about the opposite team. Maybe weightlift. Nothing too harsh today.” Shiro spoke as he messily threw everything into his bag. 

 

Keith lost himself in his mind as he looked at Shiro’s prosthetic. Looking away in shame he realized he was staring. He knew Shiro didn’t mind but Keith knew better than to bring up such a troubling memory for him. 

 

Shaking his head he smiled. 

 

“Good, I’d probably throw up from this anxiety if he made us actually do something.” Keith joked as they walked into the TV room. 

 

Sitting down in an empty chair not too far from the back Keith glanced up at Shiro as he sat down next to him. He smiled weakly feeling double the anxiety and a whole lot of nausea, he pressed his lips into a thin line. 

 

Shiro noticed this and worriedly glanced at him but before he could offer support Coach Rodriguez brought their attention forward. 

 

“Alright, as you all well know we face a tough opponent tomorrow. Altea has some good defense and we may have some trouble with their golden boy Coran.” 

 

Pulling up some footage he pressed play on his computer and showed some mean footage of the quarterback dodging sacks and throwing a 50 yard touchdown. 

 

Next video clip showed him thinking quickly and splitting away from the offensive line and sprinting 15 yards to score a touchdown. 

 

Someone in the rows of chairs whistled at that and Keith has to admit that was smart and quick thinking at its finest. 

 

Crossing his arms his unease grew bigger, somehow this wasn’t helping. 

 

“Now this isn’t going to be impossible but it will be tricky. If we can get Griffin and his linebackers into the positions we practiced this week we should stand a chance at defending our end of the field.” 

 

Coach quickly drew some plays on the board as Keith grew more and more uneasy. Coach had unknowingly( or knowingly) left the video to loop and it showed Altea’s defense quickly sacking quarterbacks double his size. 

 

Keith winced as a rather harsh defensive tackler threw himself at a quarterback and crushed him with his weight. 

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder and noticed Shiro looking at him warily. 

 

_ You okay?  _ He mouthed at Keith. 

 

Unable to bring himself to speak he shook his head and took a deep breath. Wishing it would calm his racing heart. 

 

_ Do you need to step out?  _ Shiro whispered at him. Glancing up at coach. He knew he had to be present for this as it proved vital for tomorrow’s game. 

 

Again Keith shook his head and clenched his hand hard enough to leave impressions into his palm that stung. 

 

He heard Shiro scooting closer to him and left a little reassured to have Shiro at his side. 

 

Shiro placed his chair so close to him that from his shoulder down to his knee was touching against Keith. 

 

Shiro simply smiled at him and looked forward. Ever grateful for his friend Keith shakily smiled to himself and continued to listen to coach. 

 

Keith payed attention to coach as he explained how the defense might play. Giving examples of plays he’d call for certain situations. They concluded with highlights from Altea’s victory last year against their rival. 

 

Nothing put Keith at ease more than knowing Shiro had his back both on the field and off. 

 

When it came time to leave Coach recommended that they take it easy today and just relax.

 

“Scram dude!” Shiro said as he pushed Keith’s head down as he sprinted toward the locker room leaving Keith in the dust. 

 

Feeling up to the challenge Keith ran after him. His heart finally stopped beating so hard as he took a minute to sit down before he started changing. 

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, is everything okay? You looked spooked back there?” Shiro asked, struggling with his shirt over his head. 

 

Keith laughed at his efforts and looked around. He saw at least six teammates around them and quickly knew he wouldn’t be able to speak about it here. 

 

“Everything’s mostly fine. I’ll explain it better later. You still up for hanging out?” Keith replied as he tugged his shorts down to continue his work In changing into casual clothes. 

 

“Hell yeah dude. Even though pancakes before a big game is probably not the best idea.” Shiro quickly fired back at him. 

 

“Okay but like, it’s a comfort food and I need me some comfort.” 

 

Shiro looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Slowly stretching his arms out he started walking toward Keith. 

 

“Hey this comforts free and 100% fat free.” He added as he winked and flexed. 

 

_ Curse his muscles.  _

 

Shiro noticing his moment of absence he surged forward and Keith barely managed to miss his octo-hugs. Grabbing his bag at the last second he sprints out of the locker room with Shiro hot at his heels. 

 

“Miss me with that emotional shit!” Keith yelled as he looked back at Shiro. Looking back forward he managed to side step and not hit a pole at the last second. 

 

“Come on! They’re 100% guaranteed to make you feel better! Money back warranty and all!” Shiro laughed at his almost faceplate into the pole. 

 

“Why would a free service have a warranty?” Keith questioned him as he stopped, breathing a little hard at their impromptu sprint. 

 

“Hey man I don’t make up the rules. But I do take cash.” He added with a little jab at Keith. 

 

Smiling back at him, his panic in the locker room momentarily forgotten.

 

“Actually I have a gift card.” He replied back to Shiro. Who tipped his head back and laughed. 

  
  


A few hours passed and Keith had spent some time “recharging” alone in his room to handle another outing without freaking out too much. 

 

Locking the door behind him he walked to the complex across the walkway to Shiro’s dorm. With Garrison being such a big school, it was understandable to have so many dorms. 

 

Yet even this “tiny” walk down the outdoor walkway he still spent ten minutes on his trip. Quickly greeting Shiro outside his complex they walked to his beat up truck. 

 

“So I was thinking some chocolate pancakes this time.” Shiro suggested as they closed the doors and he started the car. 

 

“Saved the best for last?” Keith asked.

 

“Something like that.” Shiro simply smiled and let the radio settle them into a nice silence as they watched the sun slowly dip behind the mountains. 

 

Pulling up to the restaurant they talked about crazy stories in class. 

 

It wasn’t until Keith was biting into his last chocolate chip pancake bite that Shiro approached the elephant In the room. 

 

“You know you can talk to me about anything right?” Shiro gently started. 

 

Using the last of the food in his mouth as an excuse to not speak Keith nodded and thought out his reply. 

 

“Yeah. I do.” He simply said and looked down at his lap. His hands already twitching and clenching. Again. Sighing he forced himself to stop fidgeting. 

 

Keith looked up at the silence and saw Shiro glancing at him worriedly. 

 

“Is there something wrong Keith? I know we haven’t been friends for long but I do consider you a very close friend.” He added while giving him that worried looked. 

Sighing, Keith signed his fate as his stomach became more knotted if even possible. 

 

“Yeah, Just buckle up because it’s a boring story.” He warns with a huff and quickly quiets it as he sees Shiro’s serious expression. 

 

“Well, I wasn’t lying earlier when I said I was nervous for the game. It’s just that I, uh get a lot of anxiety knowing we’ll be playing not only in front of a lot of people but also on live television.” He twists his hands continuously, not knowing that even talking about it he added more stress on himself. 

 

Shiro simple smiled and it encouraged him to speak again. Even if his voice shook at it. 

 

“ I don’t really understand the need to televise this since it’s just a bunch of barley adults ramming Into each other. Like we have paid professionals to watch! Furthermore.” Looking up he saw Shiro frowning as he clearly saw through his attempt to change the conversation. 

 

“Right, I’ve basically been this way all my life. It’s not just the people watching me being the problem, I have this big fear of what they’ll think of me. Part of it being that they’ll laugh at me for a simple misstep. I know it’s a guarantee at this point with social media and everything but I think I’m just scared at the possibility.”

 

He quickly rushes the little speech out and he takes a shaky deep breath to quell his racing heart. 

 

Shiro simply puts both of his hands palm up on the table. Keith understands the implication and grasps both of them. By now Keith knows Shiro can feel his small tremors and is strangely okay with it. Though he rationalized he never got as close to anyone as he has with Shiro. 

“ I completely understand your fears, and I hope you know that I’m proud of you for sharing this with me. A lot of times you can feel alone in this fight and you don’t have to continue that. There’s people you can talk to for this. Whether professional or someone like me. Trust me when I say that talking about it helps.” Shiro squeezes his hands and instantly Keith’s breathing gets easier. 

 

Shiro was right saying that it would help him to talk about it, knowing full well that one person couldn’t cure him Keith smiled at having someone understand and not doubt his fears. 

 

“Plus if it makes you feel better, I was a wreck my first game. You just have to think about beating the team, pushing yourself and honestly having a great time playing something you love.” 

 

“Playing something I love?” Keith repeated to himself, knowing full well there was a smile forming on his lips as he realized he never felt his fears when he played. When his heart was in the sport. 

 

Shiro smiled at him as he slowly brought both of their hands together and leaned his head into them. Keith copied him and leant in. Placing his forehead against both of their hands, he closed his eyes and sighed a final time. 

 

“Thank you Shiro.” 

 

* * *

 

They say there’s such a thing as home field advantage but Keith desperately wanted to be anywhere but their home field. 

 

Knowing if he screwed this up big time, his classmates would give him looks and then judge him from the rest of their time there and then even in future classes they’d know him as the kidwhomesseduphisfirstgameandthe-

 

_ “Stop, breathe.” _

 

A voice that suspiciously sounded like Shiro in his head stopped his mile a minute thoughts, that were quickly spiraling into anxiety. 

 

Taking a deep breath in he closed his eyes and counted his breathes in and out. He and Shiro had looked up some tips on settling his heart rate online after their talk. Forever grateful for Shiro yet again as he could feel his heart slowing and his thoughts slowing down considerably. 

 

Standing quickly as coach came In for a final pep talk and a chant. Quickly they put their hands in the center and lowered their heads. 

 

Looking to his left, Keith saw Shiro looking at him as he gave him a wink. Keith smiled and closed his eyes. 

 

“1,2,3 Paladins!” They chanted and threw their hands down. They quickly lined up and Keith jumped up and down trying to release some anxiety that managed to seep back in. 

 

Seeing those in front of him start running into the field he followed suit. Running and waving as he was met with a roar of cheers. Quickly throwing his hand up to hype of the crowd he laughed as he and Shiro began hyping up a section of the crowd. 

 

Shiro quickly grabbed Keith’s helmeted head and braced it against his own helmet. 

 

“Make history out there. I believe in you.” Shiro said before letting go and smacking the top of his head. 

 

Quickly running to their side of the field he appreciated that their team looked pretty badass. Their navy and white uniforms clashed harshly against the red and white of Altea. 

 

The officials quickly stated that the Garrison won the coin toss and gave them the ball to start the first quarter. 

 

Keith had hopped that they would lose the toss so he could see how Altea handles their team but he stepped up to the bat, so to say, and lined up behind his center. 

 

_ Okay, Altea’s punt had been able to get to the 45 yard line and all they needed left was just 55 yards to make it.  _

 

Drowning out the sounds of the crowd around him. Keith yelled the play and received the snap. Quickly running backward he searched for someone open. 

 

_ Kinkade’s blocked, so is McClain, Holt…?? No no good. Shirogane? Where’s Shirogane??  _

 

Worrying so much about Shiro’s whereabouts he didn’t see that Holt had been able to breakfree from the linesmen and available for the catch. 

 

Keith made another sweep and felt someone throwing him roughly back. 

 

Laying on his back he realized he’d been sacked. 

 

_ FUCK  _

 

Sitting up he held his hands on his helmet and heard the Lions cheering. 

 

_ Fuck!  _ He berated himself. Slapping the side of his helmet in anger. 

 

_ Fuck! Fuck!  _

 

_ Everyone’s booing. The school took a chance on a screw up who can’t even throw the damn football. What is wrong with him!  _

 

“Hey! Keith come on it’s not that bad. Just nervousness right? We only lost 5 yards but let’s try to make them up okay?” He heard Shiro speaking to him as he numbly took the offered hand and got back up. 

 

Running back to the line of scrimmage, he got behind his center. Yelling out the same play with a slight difference now that Altea had seen their previous play. 

 

“HUT.” He called out and caught the centers snap. Rushing backward from the defensive line he quickly scanned his wide receivers. 

 

_ THERE! Kinkade is free! THROW!  _

 

He saw a lineman in peripheral he threw the ball as hard as he could toward Kinkade. Feeling more than seeing the linesman push at him, but he was too late as the ball as soaring toward Kinkade. 

 

Seeing Kinkade catch it and spin quickly to start his sprint pass the first down marker and just over the 40 yard zone before being tackled. 

 

Pumping his fist in the air as Kinkade stood up with the ball triumphantly in his hand. 

 

To those in the crowd it might have been just a simple pass and catch but to Keith it was like therapy. His previous mistake all but forgotten as his excitement and motivation shot up from this play. 

 

Giddy, he lined back up and called play after play as his team slowly made their way toward the end zone. Coach called for a pass to hopefully get a touchdown and Keith relayed this information to the offense. 

 

“Batman and Robin! Bats and R!” To Altea these plays didn’t make sense on purpose. Keeping the code words a secret they couldn’t interpret the play and this couldn’t predict what play would be next. 

 

Still all of his teammates knew this meant and they quickly adjusted as he called the play. They only had 15 yards to the end zone and Keith was on his last chance to make his first touchdown.  

 

“HUT!” He yelled and caught the snap. Quickly running backward just enough as Shirogane sprinted past him, through an opening and passing the ten yard line- the five yard line. 

 

Seeing the defense quickly running up to him he snapped the ball to Shirogane. He narrowly avoided being trampled by the offense as he saw the ball sail and get tucked neatly into Shiro’s arms. 

 

Quickly spinning Shiro flew into the end zone. 

 

_ Touchdown.  _

  
  


_ Holy shit!!! _

 

_ TOUCHDOWN!!   _

 

He sprinted toward his teammates gathering around Shiro. 

 

“Hell yeah!” He yelled into the crowd around Shiro. His happiness encompassing as his team congratulated him on his first touchdown pass on his college career. 

 

Euphoria coursed through him as Shiro and he jumped and bumped into each other in the air. 

 

“ That was amazing Keith!” Shiro yelled over the deafening crowds yells. 

 

“The Garrison celebrates as freshman Quarterback Keith Kogane scores his first college touchdown!” He hears the announcers say over the speakers. 

 

_ I’ll never forget this.  _

* * *

 

The timer on the clock stated there was a minute left in the last quarter. 

 

The Garrison led by 10 points 21-11. With Keith throwing two more touchdown passes. With the ball in their hands all there was really left to do was control it until the time runs out. 

 

With only a few more second left his team chooses to kneel and finish the game with the score. 

 

“ The Garrison wins their first season game with a ten point lead!” They announce as people start filing out of the stadium. 

 

His whole team ran up to him and started congratulating him. Shoving him around to get at him. Laughing alongside with them he didn’t notice Holt and Shirogane behind him with a bucket full of ice and water. 

 

They quickly dumped it on his head and ran and he screamed in a totally manly way. Quickly running after them he rode his euphoria into the locker room. 

 

Changing out of his sweaty uniform he stopped at his tights as Coach walked in to give them a speech about their performance. 

 

Ending with a “We took a chance on Kogane and he showed the Lions just exactly what we’re made of! They can’t handle us when we’re together! Together we’re stronger!” He cheered with the team piping in their own hoots and hollers. 

 

Smiling to the floor he looked up and caught Shiro’s gaze. It was a softer smile than Keith had ever seen on Shiro and he gave him an equally soft one. 

 

Alright everyone! Shower and get going! Paladins on 3!” Coach shouted. 

 

“1,2,3 Paladins!” 

* * *

 

His hair was making his head cold, he tried scrubbing it dry but he had enough to make it take a little longer to dry. Glancing at Shiro as he walked, he supposed it was better than the shaved sized his friend was sporting. 

 

Upon finishing changing into fresh clothes from his shower Keith and Shiro agreed to go to Shiro’s dorm. Seeing as Shiro didn’t have any roommates they’d be able to pig out on food and binge watch bad tv. 

 

“ and then I saw this beefy dude from a few feet away and I just could smell him instantly dude! He smelled like something rotten you’d find in Lance’s closet.” 

 

Keith wrinkled his nose at the thought of his roommates dirty habits. Forget leaving food behind and letting it rot. Lance claimed he didn’t even smell the rotting food enough for Keith to bring in witnesses to his despair. 

 

“That is fucken gross. I had some dude tell me he threw up on the bench before the play. I was like the fuck dude. Keep that to yourself!” Keith laughed as he recalled the linebacker who almost tackled him. 

 

This was probably his favorite part of being with Shiro. Being able to shit talk about their own lives and not be judged. He supposed maybe every friendship was like this. 

 

Not that Keith would know anything about that though. 

 

As soon as they stepped into Shiro’s dorm they dropped their bags on the floor and ordered a big pizza with sausage, pepperoni, veggies, and mushrooms. With a side of breadsticks because reasons. ( _ it’s not a pizza without breadsticks Keith!)  _

 

“Hey why don’t we add pineapples on to it?” Shiro asks innocently.

 

Keith gasped with feint pain. 

 

“Why would you bring politics Into this!” He clutches at his heart and stumbles into the sofa. Using his whole body to take up all the space on it. 

 

Shiro unimpressed stands by the sofa with his hands on his hips. 

 

“You done now?” He simply asks. 

 

Aaaaand gets a middle finger for his trouble. Raising an eyebrow he sighs. 

 

The middle finger turns into a index finger waving back and forth. 

 

“Now you’re raising your right eyebrow and probably asking yourself why you put up with me.” Keith says with his face stuffed into the sofa. 

 

Now both eyebrows go up. Has Shiro become predictable???

 

“Yes you have.” Did Shiro say that outloud?? 

 

“Again yes.” Keith replies amused but still sat up. They argued over what trashy shows to watch while they waited for the pizza to arrive. 

 

They settled for a classic American movie; Easy A. 

 

The pizza came and went and they easily downed a two liter coke while they ate. Shiro siding with Marianne while Keith argued with a “I can totally relate with Olive!” 

 

Deep down Keith knew Shiro only sided with the antagonist….to antagonize him. What a surprise. 

 

Keith brought this up to Shiro and he faked indifference and it quickly escalated to a cat fight with Keith trying to push Shiro face into the sofa. His hand slipped from Shiro’s face and he stumbled forward. 

 

Pushing himself just a bit he noticed how close to Shiro he really was. Holding his breath he saw Shiro looking directly at him. 

 

The heat between them quickly grew and Keith exhaled and the noise drew Shiro’s eyes to Keith’s lips. 

 

Licking them Keith looked at Shiro, was he making this up? Or was Shiro acting interested. 

 

After what felt like forever, which was probably only a matter of seconds, Shiro whispered. 

 

“Can I kiss you?” 

 

Not trusting his voice, Keith nodded. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late, Sunday was a bad day at work and all the little spooky kids yesterday cheered me up. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy and stick around for more, we might have to wait a little more for the next one. Its busy season at work.
> 
>  
> 
> Did you guys catch the Rams game? 8-0!

Keith felt his eyes flutter as he leaned forward. Shiro met him halfway smiling into the kiss, Keith eagerly moved against Shiro. Their lips moved slowly with a growing heat as their hands mapped out each other.

Keith pulled away and leaned his head on Shiro’s shoulder.

“Did we really just do that?” Keith asked breathless.

Rubbing Keith’s arm Shiro chuckled. “Yeah, I can’t believe it either.”

Letting his eyes close, Keith simply smiled into Shiro’s arm. Gathering his courage, he lifted his head and pecked Shiro, just briefly this time. Shiro laughed at his shyness and Keith blushed at it. A few moments passed in blissful silence before Shiro asked.

“Does...does this mean we have to change?”

Sitting up slightly Keith frowned.

“We don’t have to change, but I do want to be with you more. If that’s as your boyfriend or as your best friend, it’ll be fine with me.”

Shiro smiled at Keith widely.

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah. I’d like that. That’s if you want. You know if. If you want it to?” Keith stumbled through the words as Shiro continued to stare at him.

“Yes. I’d actually like that.”

“Really?” Shiro sat up and hugged Keith. Laughing Keith pulled away from him.

He looked into Shiro’s eyes once again, seeing the stormy grey underneath looking back at him.

Accepting his fate, Keith leaned into Shiro yet again. And yet again Shiro met him halfway.

…

Okay, Keith had never been one to miss practice but the burger he and Shiro had over dinner the night before hadn’t settled with him right.

Laying down on his bed, he stared at his clock as it read half past two in the morning. Nausea bubbling up he sat up quickly and swallowed down hoping for any relief from his stomach.  
Groaning he rolled over and laid down and found no more comfort.

Practice was in four hours and he did not want a linebacker to tackle him and make him lose his diner. Just thinking about all the sprints they’ll do in the warm up convinced him.

Finally seeming to find a comfortable spot to sleep he dozed off.

It wasn’t his alarm that woke him up but a message from Shiro.

**S: hey! Can’t wait to hang out after practice! I have a nice surprise for you. :) see you soon!**

Groaning he set his phone down. Of course he’d forgotten about their plans. Now he had to go to practice, especially since they had a game coming up.

Last weeks victory against Altea had been challenging but they had an easy match this week. Hopefully, seeing that Balmera Tech only had a two wins last season.

Then the division champions the week after. Keith knew that he was good but he was nothing against quarterback Lotor from Daibazaal University.

One problem at a time he told himself while shaking his head as if to clear the thought.

**K: See you soon**

Sitting up from his bed he noticed right away that his stomach felt hot to the touch. Closing his eyes at the pain of his queasiness he still stood and dressed for practice.

His walk to the field from the doors would usually include Shiro but he must have been running late as Shiro was not waiting for him. A little odd but then again, he was the one late.

He burped multiple times on his walk over which helped relieve his pain and upped his mood as his pain went slowly away. Though he didn’t trust himself too much, last night was a cruel reminder of just what exactly his stomach could be up to.

Changing into his pads and jersey for practice he lightly jogged to coach and explained his tardiness.

“It’s not like you to be late so I’ll let it slide this time. Don’t make a habit of it you hear?” Coach spoke as the team ran by around the track.

“Yes sir.” Keith addressed him as he stretched his muscles for the upcoming workout.

“Alright. Just run five laps on the track and meet us up at the 100 yard line for sprints.” Coach said as he walked to where the others gathered on the field.

Shaking any nerves off Keith ran off to start his warm up. Things went fine at first and then the cramping slowly made him slow his pace considerably. Breathing hard and sweating a little more than usual Keith tugged at his jersey hoping to introduce more air to his chest.

As he finished the others lined up at the yard line coach said. Keith stood at the end of the line and was breathing a little harsh through his mouth. Hoping to keep the nausea away.

Not hearing the footsteps on the grass approaching him, he startled a little when Shiro greeted him.

“Oh, hey hi.” Keith grinned at Shiro. Hoping to convince himself more than anything that he was fine. It must have come off as a grimace because Shiro’s face twisted.

“ Are you okay? You don’t look so good.” The concern on his boyfriends face, melted his cold heart just a fraction and if even possible he smiled even more. Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder pad and Keith felt his heart race more.

It was times like these he wondered how he got so lucky with Shiro. Maybe this was just the honeymoon phase of their relationship. Keith really hoped it wasn’t because he could get used to this feeling.

“Yeah dude. Just a little sweaty. I don’t think the burger sat well in me. ” He pat his stomach a little and regretted it as his stomach yet again relented at him.

“You sure you don’t want to tell- “ Shiro was interrupted by coach blowing his whistle as he joined them yet again on the field.

“Alright, so change of plans, we're going to be doing some up downs. But since some of y’all decided to cheat on them last week, I’ll add a little more to this weeks exercise.” He smiled at them and continued.

“As you all know you’ll start by running in place, keeping your knees high as you run. Once I blow the whistle you’ll drop down with your chest touching the ground. Keep it there until I blow the whistle again. Now normally when I’d blow the whistle again you’d just jump back up and keep running in place.” Dramatically coach paused and his grin turned evil.

“Except now when I blow the whistle after you drop down, you’ll come up and sprint to the fifty yard line and back.”

Groaning echoed through the field and Keith joined in on it too. Knowing he was running towards certain death Keith wiped sweat off his forehead and felt some get into his eye. Blurring his vision in his left eye quite a bit. No amount of rubbing would clear so Keith just put his helmet back on and began running in place.

Now his coach wasn’t cruel so after having them do this exercise for fifteen or so minutes, he spoke.

“This will be the last one! After this take a short five minute break and meet back here for drills!” The whistle blew and Keith had to push through the overwhelming nausea. Throwing himself on the floor exacerbated his stomach and he hiccuped as he got up to sprint. He felt his stomach jump and he knew he was in for a bad time.

Sprinting to the yard line his stomach tried to jump again but he kept it down with a shudder and it was only after coach saw most of them stop at the yard line that he called for their break.

Shiro had beaten him to the yard line and he pumped his fists triumphantly.

Looking back he saw Keith stagger to the ground, smile quickly fading he ran over to him as Keith managed to drag his helmet off his face.

Throwing the helmet to the side as Shiro got there, he knelt down as Keith’s stomach emptied onto the field.

“Woah hey just breathe. You seriously should have stayed home.” Shiro rubbed his hand on Keith’s back as others side stepped them to go sit down on the planters.

Expecting an answer, Shiro’s concern grew as Keith remained silent. Shaking him a little to not bother him as much.

“Keith hey are yo- KEITH!” Shiro broke off as Keith turned over to his back and screwed his eyes shut. Shaking badly he groaned.

“Someone! Get coach here!” Shiro yelled at his teammates and saw them scramble to get coach from the shed where the equipment was held.

Shiro swore as he placed his hand on Keith forehead.  
Looking around he saw that they were momentarily alone.

He leaned down and whispered to Keith.

“Baby why didn’t you say something before? You know I worry about you.” Quietly petting his sweat soaked hair, Keith just gripped his hand and groaned as he shook yet again.

Coach came running up to them and quickly benched Keith from finishing practice, along with sending him to his dorm after Keith explained that he was sick but it wasn’t anything life threatening.

Shiro asked for permission to leave practice to make sure Keith got home safe. Coach quickly agreed when with a nod when he saw Keith teetering as he walked off the field.

While Keith mostly kept himself tucked into Shiro’s side for the walk home, he knew it was only because he was too embarrassed to let Shiro carry him.

Shiro being the conman that he was took Keith to his own dorm instead, Keith didn’t realize it until he tried opening his bedroom door only to find a closet?

“Uh Shiro? I think… we’re in the wrong room?” He asked quietly, his head feeling like it would burst if he spoke too loud. He barely had the energy to keep his eyes open let alone speak.

“No were just in my dorm. I’ll run a bath for you so you can relax. I’ll even get some candles as to not strain your eyes.” He spoke softly, knowing that Keith was sensitive from not only his anxiety but the migraine he was suffering from.

“I’d like that.”

 

Minutes later Keith found himself in a comfortable lighting with some background noise coming from Shiro’s speakers. Keith smiled as he got into the bubble bath, knowing that Shiro specifically chose rain as white noise. It was something they both loved and his chest felt light knowing that Shiro remembered.

Pouring enough bubble mix into the tub to cover anything he didn’t want to show [not that it mattered as they’d both seen each other naked in the locker showers] he softly called Shiro.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Shiro spoke in a whisper as he knelt down by the tub.

“Stay? Please?” Keith whispered closing his eyes. Letting his mind reset and helping his migraine. Unbeknownst to him Shiro smiled.

“Of course.” He whispered and slowly draped his hand into the tub. Lightly running his hand up Keith’s arm, draping little warm water droplets on his toned upper arm.

Leaning in he peppered kisses on Keith’s face, before stopping and capturing his lips in a soft kiss. Pulling away slightly and leaning his forehead on Keith’s.

“You really had me worried back there you know? You were late on a cold day. I thought you would have been there early seeing as the cold brightens your mood. But the second I saw you sweating so much after just jogging I knew something was wrong.” He spoke softly as if afraid to break the silence.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to go, but I didn’t want to miss out on seeing you.” Keith spoke through the shakiness of his voice.

“Baby, all you had to do was ask me, I would have gone to your dorm right after practice. You didn’t have to risk your health. Your face was practically red from your fever, or whatever this is you have. I worry for you.” Shiro continues as he wraps an arm around Keith to bring him a little closer, and little more comfort.

“ ‘M sorry.” Keith slurs out as his eyes refuse to reopen. Chuckling softly Shiro moves a few strands of Keith’s wild hair from his eyes.

“C’mon dry up and we can take a nap, it’s still early and the clouds are covering the sun. Perfect cuddling weather.” He adds as he continues to rub Keith arm.

“Yeah….Id like that.” Keith sighs as he sits up and shoos Shiro away as he changes into a shirt and some loose shorts.

Stepping into the cold bedroom, Keith sees Shiro already underneath a few warm blankets.

Noticing Keith, Shiro pets the space next to him.

“C’mon now, I warmed up your spot so you don’t get cold.” Shiro spoke as he raised his arm to open up his blankets and Keith snuggled up to Shiro.

Hugging Shiro, Keith smiled into his boyfriends chest. Shiro kisses the top of Keith’s hair and hugged Keith toward him a little more.

“Please look after yourself baby, I worry.” Shiro whispered into Keith’s hair.

He felt a ghost of a smile against his chest as Keith’s breathing relaxed and he drifted into comfortable sleep.

…  
“But! I can play! Please rethink this coach!” Keith pleads Rodriguez. Idly entertaining the thought of getting on his knees and pleading with his hands clasped together. Despite the fact that he knew coach had a point.

His fever had come back after waking up from a great sleep. Now at practice he couldn’t even convince his coach that he would probably be better by the game tonight.

Which yeah that was a lie. Whatever he had eaten hated him with a vengeance. Keith hadn’t been able to keep a single meal down, it’s as if his organs were rolling dice to see if he’d throw up or if he’d make it to the bathroom in time to keep his pants clean.  
If you’d ask Keith he’d take throwing up over the hell that is diarrhea.

So at practice he was benched with a binder catching up on the plays he missed last practice, due to his unfortunate water show. Heh.

Every now and then Keith would grow bored of reading plays he already knew. On offensive plays he’d look up and see Shiro sprinting through linemen and dodging tackles.

He could watch Shiro play all day and never get tired of the way he moved. Every jump, every lunge, every jumping jack. Oh that boy.

Keith heard the play being called and looked up from the notebook.

“HUT!” Yelled Timothy, their back up quarterback, a nice junior who could probably be making supercomputers in his sleep but oddly chose to persue football.

In that moment he felt the fiery lick of jealousy as Tim passed the football off to Shiro. Keith swore that Shiro looked over to him, but maybe he was just imagining things.

Shiro quicky weaved through the linemen and like a lovesick teenager Keith gripped the binder to his chest and felt a smile forming on his lips.

“What are you doing?”

Smile quickly fading he snaps his attention to a few seats to his right. Lance

The wide receiver quirked an eyebrow at Keith’s previous expression. Clearing his throat he avoided eye contact with McClain.

“Uh, nothing. Nothing. Studying the line.” He nods in the direction of the line quickly dissolving into cheers as Shiro crosses the end zone.

As if time slows down as Shiro pulls his helmet off and shakes his hair. Laughing slowly as his ridiculous undercut drips with sweat. His smile grows as he sees Keith looking at gives him a wink from across the field.

Quickly getting up Keith walks into the locker room to avoid having to answer Lance’s questioning glance between the two.

…  
Keith’s health took a steep decline after practice, their usual hangouts postponed as they ate a light snack before the game.

“-the corn dogs there are literally ten dollars Keith. Ten! It’s an injustice! Ten...Keith?” Shiro’s gushing over the state fair’s expensive corn dogs had stopped as Keith gripped his stomach.

A loud groan came from Keith’s stomach as he rushed to the bathroom.

“I guess that means you’re not going to the game?” Shiro said into the now empty room before quickly making his way over to Keith’s attempt to hug the porcelain throne.

…

As sick as Keith was there was no way he was missing the game. Even if it meant watching it from underneath 3 blankets. Blankets that Shiro had piled on him before he left the dorm, fussing over Keith.

The announcer called the teams and the rosters showed up on the screen. Excited he saw that Shiro was on the starting team, with Tim as the quarterback.

There was something inside Keith that didn’t like the way that Tim looked at Shiro. Sure, Keith knew that he had no evidence for any of his jealousy to be justified.

 _Plus, Shiro promised to score me a touchdown_.

Warmth spread through Keith as he watched Garrison punt the ball to Balmera to start off the game.

They were in the second quarter with only one touchdown scored so far and the Garrison was only 25 yards from the end zone.  
The ball was snapped to Tim who scanned the openings in the receivers.

Keith gasped as he saw a linebacker break away and was heading to sack him. Right before the linebacker dove Tim sidestepped and threw the ball, having it land right into Shiro’s arms.

Keith jumped and cheered at the TV, through his stomach protesting,as Shiro dodged his attacker and ran straight into the end zone.

The camera zoomed into Shiro as he celebrated, ending his dance with his hands in the shape of a heart, over his heart.

_“I’ll score a touchdown for you. Watch out and you’ll see which one is yours.”_

Immediately Keith felt blood rushing to his cheeks as he swooned over Shiro. Placing his hand over his lips he smiled as if he could still feel Shiro on them.

Sitting back down as his stomach complained, yet again, his mood rose as he couldn’t stop thinking about Shiro.

Keith felt a little drowsy as the game drew on and on. While playing the game always felt so fast paced and exhilarating, watching it on TV felt a little boring.

Keith wished for something to happen as to not feel so bored watching. It wasn’t like Garrison was having trouble keeping Balmera away from the end zone, and they were doing just fine at 15 points ahead.

“It seems like the Paladins had nothing to fear with Star quarterback Keith Kogane out this game with a bad case of the stomach flu.” Keith flushed at the announcers mention of him, adding to that the fact they called him a star.

The third quarter already had their two minute warning and they were quickly dwindling in time. Balmera Tech was getting a little antsy in their plays. Taking a few chances with the refs as they pushed their luck.

Keith quickly regretted asking for some action as the ball was snapped to Tim and Balmera’s defense quickly became ruthless.

Tim saw in opening in Shiro’s area and he threw the ball. Just milliseconds before Shiro could catch it, a huge linebacker threw himself toward him as he dove for the ball.

Keith gasped and stood despite the pain in his stomach as the sound of the helmets clashing rang out. The linesman quickly getting up and celebrating the tackle before realizing the referees had thrown a flag in.

“Shiro! Get up!” Keith uselessly called as he saw Shiro continue to lay on the floor. Other players quickly rushed the scene and got the medical team to Shiro.

“We’ll resume coverage after these messages.” The announcer came back on before cutting to commercials.

“No! NO! SHIRO!” Keith yelled, his anxiety skyrocketed through the roof. Heartbeat in his throat, he forced himself to calm down.

To stop the shaking in his hands and sit before he lost anymore of his lunch.

_Run to the stadium and make sure he’s okay. Run ! Run! Now!_

_There’s no use in making yourself more sick in leaving. Shiro would want you to stay home. You can’t even stand now_.

Controlling his breathing, he looked toward the tv as the coverage resumed to referees calling Balmera’s foul and a penalty for the unnecessary roughness.

“Takashi Shirogane has been benched for a suspected concussion.” The first announcer spoke through the play being made.

“It's a good thing they’ve got those tents for evaluations on the sidelines. It’s crucial to catch these injuries early to be able to prevent further injury to players.” The second announcer agreed with the first.

The camera focused on Shiro being helped to the sideline and sitting on a bench before taking his helmet off. Looking directly at the camera he smiles before the tent is put up.

Keith’s body feels warm at that little display, inside his heart he knows that smile was for him. Shiro had to have known he’d be worried.

…

The Garrison had won the game 32-21, shortly before the game had ended good news had been delivered to the fans.

“Takashi Shirogane, number 29 of the Garrison University Paladins, has been deemed in good condition. With no signs of a concussion, good news for all today it seems. Right Robert?” The announcer laughed at his coworker.

Keith let a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, go. Grabbing his phone he shot a quick text to Shiro.

**K:I heard you’re okay. Are you? It look like it hurt :(**

Putting his phone in his pocket he knew it would be a few hours before Shiro would be able to reply.

Stomach aching softly he sighed and turned over, his eyes falling heavy as time drifted onward.

“Keith?”

He felt a hand on his shoulders shake him slightly awake, opening his eyes he saw Shiro smiling at him.

“Hey, are you feeling okay?”

Nodding into his pillow Keith closed his eyes and whines when the hand withdrew.

“Just came to check up on you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Shiro whispered as if to not wake him up more.

The memories come flashing back, the hit he saw on tv and his eyes opened as he saw Shiro turn to leave.

Reaching out and grabbing his hand before he got too far away, Keith whined.

“Stay please?” Voice raspy with disuse.

Shiro smiled softly and set his bags down.

“Yeah, sure.”

Dropping softly into the mattress next to Keith, he opened his arms and Keith melted into them. His soft warmth easing his mind.

Smiling into Keith’s hair he grabs Keith's chin and lifts his head slightly upward. Getting the hint Keith meets his lips in a small comforting kiss.

“Goodnight Keith.”

“Night Takashi.”

There would be time tomorrow to talk about injuries and stomachs. For tonight, they only dreamt.


	4. Daibazzal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dude. So the Rams are going to the Super Bowl! 
> 
> In celebration I’m releasing this chapter a little early! 
> 
> Also I think there’s like three chapters left. I’m done with the next two but need to wrap it up well. Hopefully. 
> 
> Coming home is being worked on currently too!
> 
> Tell me what you think in the comments! Unbeta’d. My mistakes and I will die in embarrassment.

Keith counted his lucky stars that Lance was so not a morning person. Shiro had stayed the night in his dorm with him, and while that was unheard of. Keith didn't like to think about the possibilities that Lance didn't think well of his relationship with Shiro.  

 

Or the fact that he could possibly out him to the team and then that would bring in a whole host of new problems from him. He was their leader, they had to respect him and if they didnt- 

 

_ Slow down, no one knows. _

 

Keith would have to be careful in his displays of affection, but then again he and Shiro had been careful. Sighing to himself he convinced himself that they were probably safe even if they did come out. 

 

Dropping his spoon into the cereal bowl he was trying to finish up, he got up to throw the rest down the drain. His hunger was non existent but he was feeling better than yesterday. 

 

Stepping into his room he got his bag out and placed it on to his shoulder. Side stepping into Lance’s mess of a room, he looked around around and found a shoe on the floor. Grinning he grabbed it and chucked it at the figure on the bed. 

 

“Dude, you're going to be late. Get up.” Lance only replied by groaning into his pillow and shoving his head under. 

 

“Let me die by my own fate then!” He spoke into his pillow. Whatever, his loss then. Pulling on his jacket Keith left the dorm and met up with Shiro along the route to the field. 

 

“You catch your Sunday morning cartoons with cereal again?” Shiro smirks to him as they walk alongside other unfortunate athletes forced to workout on the weekends. 

 

“You make it sound like adults don't do that.” Keith argued, saddened by the fact he couldn't watch cartoons today, he woke up a little too late for that. 

 

“Ha! You’re barely an adult, you’re technically still a teenager. Hardly a man.” Shiro bumps into him trying to get a laugh out of his boyfriend. 

 

“I'm a man where it matters Shiro.” He grins at Shiro’s expression and flexes his biceps. 

 

“On the field.” He adds and breaks into a laugh as Shiro gives him a deadpan expression. His expression softens and he drags Keith closer to him to give him a nice noogie. 

 

“How's the stomach champ?” Shiro doesn't break the hold and Keith pushes away, a little self conscious and never one to submit to public displays of affection. 

 

“So so. My breakfast hasn't shown up with a vengeance so I think im fine. How's your head?” 

 

“Doctors cleared me, IM FREEEEEE.” He yells and stretches his arms wide. For the sole reason of being Shiro and having a flair for the dramatics. 

 

Keith shakes his head as they round the empty corridor to the men's locker room. Empty for the moment. Shiro quickly glances back and forth, making 100% sure that they are alone before grabbing the front of Keiths shirt. 

 

“HEY WH-” Keith's silence as Shiro pushes him against the wall and captures his lips in a quick but passionate kiss. 

 

“See you on the field.” He whispers and sprints into the locker room.  Keith for one is left starstruck, blush blooming on his face and heat rising to his chest. A smile breaks onto his face and he touches his lips where Shiro had just been. 

 

_ Shiro.  _

 

The sound of the door opening snaps him out of his dream and he sees Lance stepping into the corridor. He stops as he sees Keith and they just stare at each other for a second.  

  
  
  
  
  


“..What?” Keith finally says after the awkward pause. 

 

“You’re the one standing in the hall with a weird expression.” Lance throws back at him. 

 

Whatever. 

 

* * *

 

 

Practice is simple enough, victory yesterday means mild practice and a focus on footage. For Keith it means seeing Timothy lead his team and he’s able to study up on how different approach Tim takes. 

 

Shiro grins as he steps toward Keith on their first set of plays. The name of the game is to practice the plays and their names. This is their mild practice and honestly Keith is happy to toss the ball a few times. 

 

Keith’s feeling better in terms of his stomach not bothering him and his team come up to ask him about it too. It makes him feel closer to his them. 

 

 

* * *

 

It’s later that night that Keith feels the bitter sting of jealousy rise back up. A message from Tim pinged Shiro’s phone, something that had been happening more often than not. 

 

He believed it to be nothing more than teammates talking, heck even friends but Shiro would often glance to his phone when he’s with Keith. Keith is a little ashamed to feel jealous, but he feels justified to bring the matter up with Shiro. 

 

“You seem awfully nice with my backup. He your backup too?” Keith teases. 

 

Laughing Shiro puts his phone down.” No no, it’s not that. Tim is honestly feeling down and I offered to speak to him about it. We connected as friends and here we are.” Shiro replies 

 

Keith is a little unconvinced but trusts in Shiro so he simply shrugs. 

 

“Okay” 

 

“Okay? I’ll show you okay you little.” Shiro leaps at Keith from his side of the couch and wraps around him completely. Then mercilessly starts tickling the quarterback. 

 

“What’s this about huh. Is little Mr. Star Quarterback a little green about Tim? Hmmm.” Shiro doesn't relent as Keith laughs louder and louder. 

 

Shiro calms down after a bit and Keith sombers. Looking down at his lap, a bit of anxiety coming up in his chest as he knows he’s been caught red handed. 

 

“Babe. It’s okay to feel jealous, there’s no reason not to trust me. I wouldn’t dream of thinking anyone in that way when I’m with you. I only have eyes for you.” Shiro quietly whispers to him as he snuggles closer. Close enough that their foreheads touch and he quietly kisses him. 

 

It only lasts a second before the split, Keith glances at Shiro and sees such a deep emotion in them, such love and admiration that Keith can’t help but kiss him again. 

 

This kiss isn’t so innocent, they grapple and Shiro grips Keith’s hair and pulls. Groaning into it Shiro rolls them over and places Keith on top of him. 

 

Gasping, Keith let’s go of Shiro and rests his head on Shiro’s chest. 

 

“I’m sorry I thought too much about this. I shouldn’t have assumed.” 

 

Shiro grinned and pulled Keith even more into him. 

 

“You wouldn’t be Keith if you didn’t think too much about something.”  There’s a smug smile in there somewhere, Keith knows it. Sighing he cuddles closer to Shiro’s heart. Hoping it would bring him at least some comfort. As usual it does.

 

* * *

The clouds are rolling in and threatening to rain down a storm before practice comes to a close. Coach sighs as the players return from their weightlifting. 

 

“Alright gather round. As you all know the game against Diabazzal tomorrow is important to our conference. We need to be at our best. We need to recover from both sickness and illness. Take time to relax. We need you guys at your best. There’s talk out there that this could be shaping up to be the match in the finals. Play hard but also. Play fair. Alright. Head on home.”

 

With that he dismisses the team and Keith is grinning as the cold wind air builds up 

 

“Looks like rain is coming!” He eagerly says to shiro as they walk out of the locker room. 

 

“Wanna catch a movie at my dorm, and get out of the rain?” Shiro asks. 

 

“What rain?” Keith laughs as he sticks his hand out to emphasize the lack of water falling from the sky. 

 

“You little brat. You know what I mean.” Shiro brings Keith closer to give him a noogie and mess up his hair in the process. 

 

“Yeah sure. What’s on the table?” Keith shrugs shiro away and readjusts the bag on his side that had slipped in the commotion. 

 

“Mmm I was thinking Coco. What about you. Anything you wanna watch huh?” 

 

“I’m fine with that. Order in for tonight’s Pre-game meal?” Keith asks as he pulls up his phone, searching for nearby pasta places. 

 

“Yeah sure. My treat yo.” Keith rose an eyebrow at that but stays quiet, used to Shiro’s failed attempts at being young. 

 

_ [“Im only two years older than you!!!”] _

 

They continued in silence toward Shiro’s dorm, Keith had a small smile on his face. He shifted closer to Shiro but enough to make it seem like two friends. 

 

Five feet apart because they’re totally gay. 

 

Shiro quickly loaded Netflix in and they sat down as they waited for their food to arrive. Settling in closer to the warmth that was Shiro they contented to silence. 

 

Only rising to get their food and continue watching. The first movie faded into the second and Keith quickly losing the fight to stay conscious. 

 

Keith woke up slowly, the sun completely gone by this point but the second movies credits barely rolling. 

 

Groaning he stretched from the stiff position he had been in for the past hour. 

 

“Hey there, have a nice nap?” Shiro teased him quietly. Keith blushed and chuckled. 

“You should have woken me! I didn’t mean to make you sit through it alone.” 

 

“I wasn’t alone, you were here with me.” Ever the sap, Keith grinned and looked up at him. Shiro smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him quietly. 

 

Keith leaned in and smiled at Shiro’s enthusiasm. He laughed and leaned away, “Did you want to watch something else?” 

 

His words whispered close but heard so loud, Shiro got a mischievous glint in his eye and grinned. 

 

“Actually I’d rather watch someone else.” Shiro quicky wrapped Keith in his arms and captured his lips yet again. 

 

The kiss was deeper, meaner and tougher than they’d been use to. Keith growled into it and pushed back as much as Shiro gave. 

 

Hands began to wander and Keith’s mind went a little into hyperdrive at the implications. His hands began shaking and his lungs protested for air. 

 

Shiro grabbed Keith by his shoulders and gently pulled him away. “Hey, Keith look at me. Are you okay?” He whispers into the heat of their moment. 

 

Mind whirlpooling into oblivion, Keith nods but his face must give it away. 

 

“Hey, hey we don’t have to do anything. This is a safe place for you. Are you having anxiety?” Shiro continues to whisper. 

 

“Yeah sorta. I’ve… I've never done this before.” Keith whispers back into the darkness. His hands grip the snug tee shiro is wearing and tries to still the tremors in his arms. 

 

Shiro places his hand over Keith’s, engulfing it in warmth and smiles. “Like I said, nothing has to happen. We can go back to watching movies.” 

 

Making up his mind, Keith steels himself. “What if I want something to happen?” Keith sits up and pushes Shiro gently down into the couch. 

 

He settles in, on top of Shiro and grins. His mind slowing down as he grows comfortable in Shiro’s arms. Shiro traces his forearms with his fingers and grins up at Keith. 

 

“Lead the way.” Shiro puts simply. 

 

“Coach did want us to relax before the game right? What better way.” Keith laughs at Shiro’s expression and swoops in to steal another kiss. 

 

“Please don’t talk about Juarez right now. You’re killing my boner.” His laugh is cut off by a groan as Keith experimentally grinds down onto Shiro’s lap. 

 

“Alright brat. I’ll teach you a lesson in patience today.” Keith’s wicked grin turns into a shriek as Shiro lifts him up and carries him into his room. 

* * *

 

Keith walked into the field branding his new jersey for the big game. He felt great and held no anxiety so far for facing one of the nations top schools. 

 

_ “It’s the dick babe. Cures everything one thrust at a time” _

_ He remembers Shiro stating earlier that morning with a  _ _ crude thrust into the air. Which earned him a smack from Keith.  _

 

Truth be told the only thing bothering Keith was soreness from... _ that  _ area. 

 

Thinking about what caused it made him breakout in red blush on his face. Yeah so maybe losing his virginity before a big game wasn’t their greatest idea, but Keith felt there had been no more perfect time or perfect person. 

 

It made sense in his mind. Plus if they won this game it might inspire a tradition of sorts with him and Shiro. 

 

_ God  _ he hoped so. One taste and he was addicted to Shiro. 

 

_ “Babe I’d love to continue but we have a game tomorrow. An important game that we and especially you need to sleep for.”  _

 

So maybe they’d stayed up. Sue him for falling deeper in love with his boyfriend and best friend. 

 

He chokes a little on his spit and after a weird glance from Griffin coughs a little and smiles. After Griffin looks away Keith grimaces to himself, way to be awkward. Oh god this is probably already being recorded. On Nation fucken television. 

 

Shrugging off his nerves he runs over to where shiro and Kinkade are hyping up a section of their schools fans. Keith’s always a little surprised to see banners of some of his teammates in the stands. 

 

He never understood how college football is almost on the same level as NFL football. Still his grin gets wider as he sees a poster with Shiro’s face, the number twenty nine and a bunch of hearts. 

 

_ Me too random fan. Me too.  _

 

Running up to Shiro he grins, and reads out a poster behind him. 

 

“Number twenty-nine on the field but number one in my heart.” Shiro laughs and shoved him away as the time to huddle up has come. 

 

So much for not having anxiety, the thought of facing Lotor and his squad is menacing but, he calms himself with a few breaths held and released. 

 

_ Slow and steady thoughts, we’ll win easily.  _

 

“Paladins on three, one, two, three!”

 

* * *

Okay so maybe not easy. It was the end of the fourth quarter and they need a miracle. They’re down seven points and need at least that and maybe a two point conversion to actually win this bad boy. 

 

He may or may not have had a minor panic attack in the locker room during halftime but Shiro saved the day. Pulling him away toward the hardly used showers with a brief nod to coach to show everything was okay. 

 

“Keith buddy listen. Calm breaths, and deep breathing. You’re alright, you’re fine. It’s just a game. Win or lose, you’re the best in my eyes.” Shiro continued whispering sweet nothings into his ear as he held his quarterback close. Keith was thankful for the doors on the shower rooms to give them this privacy. 

 

Even if nothing fun was going down. In any case fun could wait. They had a game to win. 

 

With a few more breathing exercises Keith stood up and held a hand out to Shiro. 

 

“I’m as good as I’m getting in the time we have. C’mon let’s go.” 

 

Taking his hand Shiro wraps him in close yet again. Sorta awkward with their bulky uniforms but the sentiment isn’t lost on Keith. 

 

“I’ll find a way to get through, if coach calls a running play. I’ll make it. If it’s a pass trust me.”

 

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Keith replies with a smile. 

 

Shiro returns it and doubles down with a quick kiss. 

 

“Let’s show them what we’re made of.” 

 

“ _ Kogane!” _ Oh shit. Right offense up, the Galra had used up their last play and resulted in a bad third down conversion. They were up. As he stood, time came to a grinding vault as he saw the QB for the other team slowly take his helmet off. 

 

His long hair cascading down and a smirk gracing the lips of the one and only, Lotor. 

 

Fire coursed through Keith’s veins, and he pulled his helmet roughly onto his head. 

 

Sprinting over to Juarez, his coach motioned him in. “We’re doing a Regular Reunion Special.” 

 

Right RRS, stupid name but it was effectively one of their stronger running plays. 

 

Sprinting over to his offensive line he quickly yells “RRS, Regular Reunion Special!”

 

Catching Shirogane's eye he winked and Shirogane smirked. 

 

This is what they needed, to play fast and loose. There was no way around these heavy hitters. 

 

He quickly called the snap and faked a throw, quickly meeting up with Shirogane as the running back took the ball from his grip and sprinted right. 

 

Keith saw as he ran straight past an unknowing defensive lineman and juked another. 

 

“Yes!” He cried out and jumped in excitement as Shirogane ate up more and more yards. Until he was finally forced offsides and into the benches by the Galra. 

 

“Shirogane has gained a total of 35 yards bringing the Garrison Paladins to the 20 yard line. Easily in field goal territory.” He hears the announcers call out. Yes yes! 

 

_ Only need to score a TD!  _

 

He has a few seconds to spare so he sprints up to Shirogane and meets him halfway with an in the air shoulder bump. 

 

“Hell yeah dude! We’re this close!” Keith shouts in excitement! 

 

Their next two plays aren’t as successful and they only are able to eat up six more yards, it’s their last shot at getting a touchdown or they lose their undefeated status. 

 

He called the snap and quickly looked over his team, Shirogane was a no go. Neither was Griffin. Or Kinkade. Shit. But there was an opening for them to get a first and goal. He quickly spotted an opening he could squeeze through.

 

Maybe even a touchdown if he went unnoticed for a little too long. Seizing the opportunity Keith quickly tucked the ball into his arms and ran straight through, but was quickly noticed. 

 

He easily passed the first and goal line and realized he was out of space. Admitting defeat he began to slide when a huge Galra linesman barreled into him as he began his slide. Effectively stopping him. 

 

He reflexively held onto the ball as tight as he could but stayed still. That  _ hurt.  _

 

He heard many whistles blowing at the obvious penalty, not only that but also loud arguing. 

 

Amongst the shouting he heard a clear voice behind him. “What the FUCK do you think you’re doing huh! Think you can go around knocking down our QB?” 

 

_ Shiro?  _

 

Sitting up he sees that half of the Paladins and the Galra roughing each other up. It was not only a rule that you couldn’t rough the passer but it was also seen as a personal attack on the team. 

 

Looking up he saw his boyfriend shoving the lineman that had thrown him down. Standing up he quickly went toward Shiro as others gathered around and tried defusing the situation. 

 

“You do that again and you’re fucken dead. You don’t fucken touch him.” Shiro spat venomously at the linesman who only threw insults back at him. 

 

“Hey Shiro stop let’s go. Lets go!” He shouted pulling him away. 

 

The anger he saw in Shiro’s eyes was something he had never witnessed before. Calm, mild mannered Shiro was gone and in its place was a hurricane Keith had never expected. 

 

Galras team called a timeout and Keith was thankful as he was approached by the on site team searching for injuries. He let them take their time and assured them only his upper chest felt the hit but the pain was gone. 

 

Replaced only but numbness. Still he needed to play in the next play. Not that he didn’t trust Tim but he needed to show the Galra he wasn’t afraid of them. That playing dirty wasn’t going to win them any favors. 

 

As soon as he got the all clear he headed straight to where Shiro was. Checking in with almost everyone on his team, assuring them he was fine. 

 

Sitting next to Shiro, it was clear the man wanted nothing but to envelop the quarterback in his arms. Still he resisted, Keith assured him as well with a hand on his shoulder. 

 

“Let’s make them pay for that.” 

 

The wicked grin that replaced the worry in his heart made this all the worthwhile. 

 

Running back on the field they were less than six yards from the goal. A simple snap and they’d be golden. 

 

He called the play quickly and saw that if Griffin was able to push back he’d score. Trusting Griffin he shot the ball short of him and his faith in him was good as Griffin pushed back and turned quickly to catch the ball. 

 

They were only one point down but they  _ really _ didn’t want to go end in a draw. Setting up to get a two point conversion, he called the snap. 

 

Faking a throw and passing it quickly to Shirogane, he sidestepped and watched as Shirogane spun out of the way of a linesmen. 

 

And cross into the end zone. 

 

As soon as Keith saw that Shiro had passed into the end zone he sprinted after his boyfriend. 

 

Shiro’s back was turned as he got to him and Keith jumped up onto it. Wrapping a hand around him to stabilize himself. 

 

“We did it! We actually fucken did it!” He slapped the side of Shiro’s helmet as he rode the back of his boyfriend. 

 

_ You rode him a very different way earlier.  _

 

He laughed at his intrusive thought, and jumped off of Shiro. He quickly turned and lifted him as the team celebrated the victory and their status of undefeated continued. 

 

* * *

 

 

Sighing Keith dropped into his seat on the long bus ride home. Next to him Shiro looked toward him, grinning still giddy with excitement and happiness. 

 

“You totally saw that right! The way that I caught it and-“ Keith laughed at his boyfriends excitement. 

 

“Yeah I actually did. You know as I was there.” If even possible Shiro’s grin grew larger. 

 

“Fine fine twerp. Spoil my mood!” He dramatically exclaimed and crossed his arms, turning away. Literally two feet away from Keith. Arching an eyebrow Keith reached over and took Shiro’s hand. 

 

“How are you. Everything okay in camp Keith?” He asked using his other arm to knock on Keith’s head. Grinning Keith shook his head.

 

“My head didn’t even get hit. My chest is kind of numb. Probably going to have a big bruise later.” Shiro smiled and tugged Keith closed to him. 

 

“No messes with our quarterback.” And whispers “ _ My quarterback.”  _

 

Smiling Keith can only laugh at his boyfriends antics. 

 

Clearing his throat and looks around before asking. 

 

“And how’d you do. You know.  _ Down there.”  _  He grins and wags his eyebrows. Keith lets go of his hand and shoves his face away. 

 

“In a seriousness, you do okay? I’m sorry if it uh affected your performance.” In Keith’s eyes Shiro’s bashfulness at their activities the night prior was absolutely adorable. 

 

“I felt it more sometimes and less others. It didn’t really bother me. Just an odd feeling that I need to get used to.” Keith replied back with redness filling his cheeks. 

 

“Good, I’m sorry we didn’t pick the best time. But man were you amazing today. Especially with that pass to Griffin. Oh man I probably creamed my pants with that one.” 

 

“Dude that sounds gay.” He hears himself say without really thinking about it. 

 

Only to burst out laughing with Shiro as he realized just what he said. 

 

“I mean not that I’m gay. I’m firmly set in my sexuality sir.” Shiro brushes off and burst into another fit of giggles. 

 

That is until they’re rudely shushed by Griffin himself. 

 

“ _ Hey!  _ Some of us are actually going to try to sleep during this ride.” 

 

It takes an effort but they’re both able to calm their hysterics down and simple enjoy their time together. 

 

Hand in hand. Toward the back of a shitty rent a bus on the trip back home to the Garrison, with the win. What more could they ask for. 


End file.
